The Imperial Palace in Nara revealed the remains of an 8th-Century pond garden: the To-in Garden, workers preparing the ground discovered the remains of a stream garden--a yarimizu  that dates to the same period as the palace itself.  The winding stream echoes the Chinese, Korean and early Japanese tradition of a stream banquet during which guests attempted to come up with an original poem before cups of sake.  All that remain at To-in are the stream and the rocks placed along the banks of the stream and anticipates certain aspects of later Japanese garden elements.
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